Mercedes-Benz, the maker of cars I can never afford, has selected Mad Men star Jon Hamm to do the voiceovers for its upcoming campaign promoting sustainability – in particular, promoting the S400 Hybrid.

The ad bowed last night in 16 of ABC’s largest U.S. TV markets during the Academy Awards broadcast, and will be rolled out across the rest of the country in the weeks to come.

The New York Times says that Hamm was chosen to replace actor Richard Thomas (The Waltons), who has been doing the gig for the past four years.

“It’s a nice refresh of our voice,” Stephen Cannon, vice-president of marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA, told the newspaper. He added that Hamm has “a terrific, very resonant voice with a lot of gravitas to it,” and will help Mercedes-Benz “reach out to a younger, more vibrant audience” during his three-year contract. (I’m sure his contract includes a free car too. Dammit.)

I’m guessing I’m part of that audience, though like I said, I will never make enough money to ever buy a Mercedes-Benz. What this news did do was pique my interest in other TV stars who do voiceover in commercials.

24 actor Kiefer Sutherland has been the voice of Ford in Canada for years, and his dad, Donald Sutherland, just did CTV a solid by narrating its “Believe” TV ads during the Winter Olympics.

I did a little digging and here’s what – and who – I found.


Richard Thomas, Mercedes-Benz
The former Waltons star – he played John Boy – has been the guiding voice of Mercedes-Benz for four years; that all changed Sunday night when Hamm took over.

Here’s one of Thomas’s ads.



Donald Sutherland, CTV
A friend of CTV boss Ivan Fecan, Sutherland provided his dulcet tones to the network’s huge Winter Olympics ad campaign, dubbed “Believe,” which concluded with this chest-thumper. Sutherland, who was last seen on the small screen in Dirty Sexy Money, will return in a TV adaptation of Moby Dick, which co-stars William Hurt and Gillian Anderson.


 

Kiefer Sutherland, Ford
The 24 star has been the voice of the Ford Motor Company in Canada, voiced an Apple computer ad in 2006 and does the intro to NHL games on the Versus network. Here he is, teamed with NHL great Wayne Gretzky to promote Ford’s Edge.



Patrick Dempsey, Mazda
When he’s not steaming up the screen on Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey is lending his voice to State Farm and Mazda commercials. And when he’s not on a TV or film set, the affable actor can be seen tearing it up on the race track with his Dempsey Racing team; he races in the GT series and has driven the pace car at the Indy 500.



Campbell Scott, Chevron
Scott currently co-stars on Damages alongside Glenn Close, Martin Short and Lily Tomlin, and his authoritative voice narrated the excellent made-in-Canada feature One Week, and serves to assure us in this Chevron ad that big oil is looking to be environmentally friendly.

 

Alison Janney, Kaiser Permanente
The former West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip star, who will be seen this fall co-starring alongside Matthew Perry in ABC’s Mr. Sunshine, lent her voice to the U.S. health care provider.



John Krasinski, Blackberry
The likable Office actor offers that same guy-in-the-next-cubicle tone in Verizon’s TV spots for its Blackberry Storm.



Zach Braff, PUR Water
The Scrubs star, whose narration is just as important as his laugh-out-loud expressions on the medical sitcom, provides the “voice of water” in this PUR ad, urging people to help those in other countries acquire clean drinking water.

 

Who did I miss? Who is your favourite actor doing voiceovers for commercials? greg@tvguide.ca

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Greg has been a fan of TV since he was five years old, eating dry cereal in front of the TV with his sisters watching Sesame Street, and scrambling downstairs after dinner to watch Polka Dot Door. His influential teen years were taken up by equal parts of The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Magnum P.I. and Friday Night Videos as well as daily doses of Toronto Rocks and the Power Hour on MuchMusic.

He is continually fascinated with the television process from idea to pilot episode and network pickup, development and casting right through to air, and likes all genres of TV.

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